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TIL Tetris is from USSR. Aswell as that the pieces in it are called tetrominos.

Here in the Netherlands our house of representatives has 150 seats and they're filled by 15 parties, the biggest of whom has 37 seats, the second 25. People sometimes suggest that political fragmentation makes things more complicated, because usually at least 3 or 4 parties are needed to form a coalition. I don't really think it matters because I look at it this way: there are different views on things in society and compromises need to be found one way or another, it's where this takes place that's different. In one case it's on the conference of 1 or 2 big parties, in the other case it happens in parlement/government where the many small parties meet. The benefit of a many-party system is that people actually got a choice, if you're on the left and don't like what a particular party is doing, you can pick another leftwing party. You don't have that option in a 2-party system, you'll probably stick with your party despite everything you don't like about it. Here, if a party really fucks up, they're done for, a party can get 20% one election and 1% the next one. The system is more dynamic. At the same time, the actual governments usually have an overlap, like there will be different coalitions, but our center-right party has been in the coalition for over a decade now. There may be a certain charm to knowing that every other election a completely new set of people forms the government, but that also has many downsides I think. There'll be little continuity, republicans undo everything democrats have done and in 4 years we'll see the reverse. Haven't heard any really convincing arguments against political fragmentations. It's just the path towards it that may be difficult if you're in a 2 party system, because as soon as you go third party, you're hurting your side of the spectrum. What would be helpfull is if it would happen on both sides simultaneously. Can't you setup a structure where people from both sides would together commit to voting third-party?

Sure, YOU voted dems anyway, but not everyone did. And it's those others that didn't that you need to consider if you want to win elections. Is it that they didn't vote Kamala because she is female and belongs to a minority? Honestly it's not unlikely that that is the case. Obviously it shouldn't matter, but it still seems like it does.

Late response, but there is BookBrainz, the book-equivalent of MusicBrainz. It's catalogue isn't as big as OpenLibrary but they're doing way better on the front of keeping their data clean and without duplicates. I hope someday it will find more users and be the base for other apps to built upon.

A very particular type of prison too

Yes you name important reasons, also there's migration both legal and illegal. Legal migration also from within Europe, for example there are quite a lot of Polish homeless people here. Often they came here to work, but they lost their job and the housing that was part of the job, and they stick around for a while, thinking to turn things round, but things get worse when they start drinking. Often their best chance is to go back to Poland, because there they have social security rights, which they don't have here. But they feel shame to go back and face their defeat. It's heartbreaking sometmes, not very proud of how my country treats foreign workers..

There are some schizophrenic homeless people, but even more people with bad tempers, anti social personality traits, that get themselves into fights all the time. I often need to remind myself and others, that it's those people that often need help the most. Some people only want to help those that are very sympathetic, and greatfull. But those will make it any way, everyone is willing to help them. It's the ones with the bad tempers and the short fuses that need your help most, because most people are unwilling to look beyond it.

Money can't buy you happiness. But stress due to lack of money destroys people. Working as a volunteer at a homeless shelter has taught me that atleast here in the Netherlands quite some of them stay homeless not because there are no options to get of the street, but because with these options comes all the stress of having to pay the bills. That goes to show how rough it must be to live with financial stress, because living on the street itself is terribly rough, and still some prefer it.

it’s difficult to imagine how one amasses that sort of money ethically

It simply can't be done. How can it be ethical to earn millions times more than you could ever need, while others are in need of it. That's unethical regardless of if how it was earned. Not a big Jesus fan, but he's quite right about the need to share with those in need.

The Fediverse exists because developers and users alike believe in freedom. Freedom is always limited in some degree in centralized structures. Other platforms have an incredible advantage though, which is having a large user base. But all the people in the Fediverse chose for the free (as in libre) alternative regardless. And so the monopolies will be challenged. The alternatives are there, and whenever momentum grows, it will expand. I believe that eventually the Fediverse will win, simply because it's a convincing idea, worthy of our faith, and so we stick with it. Don't be demoralized by it taking time. Freedom persists if we continue to believe.

Elon’s middle name Reeve is derived from his maternal great-grandmother Edith Reeve Angel, who is in turn a granddaughter of Elizabeth Reeve, of Totnes, Devon, England. A reeve was a form of medieval bailiff, who managed feudal lands, and as such was not usually a popular individual. source: https://forebears.io/news/meaning-of-elon-musks-name

All fun and games untill obesity sets in, probably before puberty. McDonalds tries it's very best to instill the habit of regular fast-food consumption in to children across the world. I'm all in favor for fun and games for kids, but I get uncomfortable when you target your fast-food chain at children. Let's just make a public playground for kids, and let's not allow the obesity-salesmen to target them.

You don’t need a permit to march in the streets or on sidewalks, as long as marchers don’t obstruct car or pedestrian traffic. And that makes a lot of sense because if you block a road perhaps emergency services need to know ahead of time that they can't take that route. Or others concerns may be relevant. For the very same reasons this is similar in countries around the world. Source: https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/protesters-rights